Device for compressing piston rings



KIRK D. HOLLAND, OFCHECAG-O, ELLENOIS.

DEVIWICE FR CMPRESSING PISTN RINGS.

Application To all whom t muy concern.'

Be it known that l, Kinn l). Hermano, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county oli Coeli and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful improvements in Devices for CompressingPiston Rings, of which the following is a speciiication.

My present invention relates to a device which is rdesigned tofacilitate the insertion ci a piston equipped with peripheral springmetal packing rings, such as used in gas and steam engines, aircompressors and other apparatus, into the cylinder in which it isintended to operate. rlhe object of my invention is the production of anextremely simple, yet eiliective and desirable device of this character,which can be very economically manufactured. To this end l have designedand invented the piston ring compressor hereinafter described and whichis illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming' part of thisspecification, the essential elements of my invention being moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Oi the drawing' Figure l is a perspective or' a compressing deviceembodying my invention in a preferred form; Figure 2 is perspective orthe same applied to a piston and ready for use in inserting the pistonin a cylinder; Figure 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of apiston with the device applied and showing the relation ot parts whenthe top oi the piston is just ready to enter the engine cylinder; Figuretis a fragmentary front view illustrating a modified "form of theinvention, Figure 5 is a perspective of different modified torni of mydevice; and Fig. 6 a Jfragmentary detail showing a distorted position ofthe parts occupied when applying the ringto the piston.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the Hguresof the drawings.

ln its preferred forni,v as illustrated in Figures l, 2 and 3, my deviceconsists of a strip of pliable sheet metal il, one end which is formed,adjacent one side..with a. continuous tongue portion 2 about halt thewidth of the main portion of the strip. Adjacent the other end the metalis bent up between a couple of short transverse slits to term an eye 3of proper size to receive the tongue 2. The edge of the strip along theside upon which the tongue and eye are formed is provided with anoutwardly and.

Serial No. 350,144.

downwardly rolled flange el which terminates at the base oi' the tongueand opposite to the eve. ln the present instance, though notnecessarily, the opposite edge of the device is termed with a. similarflange 5 to provide a smooth edge, and the base of the tongue isarranged to overlap the liat unlanged portion of the strip beyond theend of the 'flanges t and 5.

My compressing ring is designed and intended to be used in the followingmanner. .he strip is lirst strapped snugly and accurately around thecylindrical skirtof the piston, below the lowermost piston ring, bymeans oi the tongue 2 threaded into the eye 3 and bent backwardly to theposition shown in Figure 2, and is then slipped oil the lower end of theshirt, and placed over and upon the top end of the piston and slippeddown- 7o wardly over 'the adjacent piston rings. The attachment of thetongue and eye at one side oit' the device permits it to be distortedand the loweredge of the device 'to be sprung slightly outwardly, theeye and bent tongue rocking as shown in Fig'. 6, thus enabling thedevice to be readily fitted over the rings. fis it is passed downwardlyit reassumes a cylindrical form, and holds the rings snugly within theirgrooves; as shown in Fig. 3. The flange 4i at the top of the deviceabuts against the lower edge of the cylinder wall as the piston isinserted, and the device is therefore :forced downwardly on the pistonas the latter enters the cylinder and is finally stripped oil from thelower edge of the skirt as the piston clears the lower edge of thecylinder. Since the skirt ot the piston is in practice always made a fewthousandths of an inch larger than the head and therefore nts thecylinder so much the more closely, the method described will produce aslightly looser lit of the device at the top of the piston. enabling; itto be easily manipulated, yet always suiiiciently close to cause thepiston i0@ rings to enter the cylinder easily.

ln the modified i'orin of my invention shown in Figure el, the ends ofthe Strip which are arranged to overlap, are both 'termed with pairs ottransv rse slits and inloll termediate bent-up eyes or fastening stripsmarked 6 and 7 respectively, and a detached clamping strip S is providedwhich may be 'threaded through both eyes and its ends bent back uponthemselves when sizing the device 11o upon the skirt of the piston.

ln the modification shown in Figure 5, the

eye member of the-fastening consists of a wire loop 9 which is securedto the device by means of a folded clip l0 rivet-ed to it near itsadjacent end. This loop 9 is engaged by a tongue 2 formed on theopposite end of the device, and which may be identical in constructionwith the tongue 2 before mentioned.

While the formation of the fastening tongue and eye at one side of thedevice eX- hibits theparticular advantages above described and I regardsuch construction as the most desirable, yet it will be understood thatthey may be located centrally or intermediately of the strip, ifpreferred, and some measure of the advantages of my invention still berealized.

I claim:

l. A piston ring clamping device formed of a strip of pliable sheetmetal and comprising a main portion and a tongue portion narrower thansaid main portion and at one side of and continuous with said mainportion, the end of the strip opposite said tongue being formed with atransverse eye arranged to interlock with said tongue and provide forrocking movement.

2. A piston ring clamping device formed lof pliable sheet metal andcomprising a main portion outwardly flanged along its top side, a tongueportion, and an unfianged terminal portion provided with an eye adaptedto engage said tongue.

4. A piston ring clamping device formed.

of a strip of pliable sheet metal and comprising an outwardly flangedmain portiomthe end portions of said strip being arranged to overlap andone end portion being equipped with an eye, and engaging means includinga pliable sheet metal tongue arranged to engage said eye and anchored tothe other end portion of the strip.

5. A piston ring clamping device formed of a strip of pliable sheetmetal and comprising a main portion outwardly flanged along its topside, a tongue portion narrower than said main portion and extending inalignment with the flanged side of such main portion, the end of thestrip opposite said tongue being provided with an eye arranged tointerlock with said tongue and provide for rocking movement.

Kinn D. HOLLAND.

